When he gives you an invitation to watch or play sports and extends the same invitation to his other friends, it is rarely a date, especially when this is the first social meetup with him.

A man that is romantically interested in you naturally wants to do something with you on a one-on-one basis to determine whether there is romantic chemistry without distractions.

In going on multiple dates with you and determining romantic chemistry, he naturally wants to introduce you to his friends, having already informed them of his romantic interest in you.

In this scenario, he invites you to watch or play sports so that you get to meet his friends, who are now eager to meet you, given everything he has already told them about you.

By this point, you have already been on a few dates with him.

This scenario is totally different from that of a man who gives you an invitation to watch or play sports as the very first activity you do together, where he has also invited friends.

A man that has romantic intentions towards you normally doesn’t want to share you with his friends this soon.

He prefers having one-on-one time with you first.

In a different scenario where he gives you an invitation to watch or play sports, but it will only be the two of you, there are surefire ways to know whether it is a date or just a friendly hangout.

For one, an invitation to watch a sports game at a local bar is preempted with dinner.

This is where he is doing extra.

The invitation is extended hours before the game is to start so that he gets to have dinner with you first.

Similarly, if he gives you an invitation to play a sport but asks to get refreshments after you complete playing the sport, he is doing extra.

These two examples are potent signs that his invitation is a date, given that he is doing extra.

The extra is indicative of his romantic intent.

A sign that his invitation is nothing but a friendly hangout is when he doesn’t intend to do anything extra, asks you to show up at about the time the sports spectacle or activity is intended to start, and demonstrates impersonal body language throughout.

In this case, he has no romantic intentions even though it is only the two of you involved.

Additionally, a guy who extends an invitation to watch or play sports but doesn’t really follow up is showing a lack of romantic interest.

For instance, he extends an invitation on a Friday, but you don’t hear back from him as Friday is fast approaching.

If you suddenly find yourself having to reach out to him to confirm whether it is still happening, he was never inviting you to a date.

He only extended the invitation because it felt appropriate to do so in the moment, but since then, he has totally forgotten about it.